Call for Presentations
The notion of what constitutes writing is currently undergoing new directions while simultaneously experiencing tensions from historical forces and paradigm shifts in processes and mechanisms. Hence this ‘triple blind peer reviewed’ research and publications project on Writing will explore the multitude of facets of writing from an interdisciplinary perspective. While it seeks to explore the current multimodal, intertextual and intersemiotic facets of writing, contributors may also unpack how writing has been manifested in previous historical eras and how these roots are connected to the current digital age and how it may arise in the future.

‘All writing comes from somewhere’ and with this axiom in mind this project will not only examine the pragmatic elements of writing but also the complex issues concerning the metafunctions of writing as a creative and purposeful process across various disciplines.

Papers, presentations, reports, workshops and pre-formed panels are invited on, but not limited to any of the following focus areas;

1. Writing as a Creative Process: Theory and Practice
-What are the origins and forms of creative writing?
-What are the personal and interpersonal relationship between creativity and writing?
-How is effective and creative writing developed and nurtured?
-How do various disciplines understand the pragmatic elements of writing and the thought processes that underpin writing?
-What are the similarities/differences in understanding between the related research disciplines?
-How can creative writing be fostered in a world dominated by measurement, outcomes and benchmarks?
-How do authors actually write?
-What can we learn from professional writers in regard to academic writing?

2. Writing across the Disciplines: Theory and Practice
-How do various disciplines define writing?
-The psychology, philosophy and pedagogy of writing of various fields of thought
-What is creativity in theory and practice in the business world?
-Can writing be taught?
-How do readers engage with writing?
-What does engagement with writing and the writing process mean for adults and for children?
-How does writing develop in all age groups or across age groups?
-What are the various forms Inter-disciplinary approaches to teaching writing?
-Historical and contemporary representations of writing as art, in film and literature?
-The future role of writing?
-How will the visual media be related to writing in the next decade or beyond?
-The relationships between children’s engagement with television, film, visual literacy and writing?
-Traditional forms of writing: what are they and how do they fit in the visual age?
-The role and nature of learning theories and their view of writing

3. Critical and Cultural Thinking
-How is writing linked to critical thinking? Is it the same as critical literacy?
-Where does this writing ability come from?
-What is the role of the ’significant other’ in developing critical engagement with writing at home, school and beyond?
-What are the conditions that foster critical thinking and critical writing?
-How is writing engendered and produced in different contexts of cultural contexts?
-Developing writing as life skills, social issues and education for citizenship in the 21st century

Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 14th June 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 13th September 2013.

What to Send
300 word abstracts should be submitted to the Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this order:

Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

The conference is part of the Education Hub series of research projects, which in turn belong to the At the Interface programmes of Inter-Disciplinary.Net. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore discussions which are innovative and challenging. All papers accepted for and presented at this conference are eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be invited to go forward for development into a themed ISBN hard copy volume or volumes.